And this despite the fact that in the Declaration of this summit, the two countries congratulate each other, at point 61, for “customs cooperation”, in application of point 3 of the bilateral road map signed by Pedro Sánchez and King Mohamed VI on April 7, 2022.
More precisely, this article referred to the “total normalization of the movement of people and goods”.
However, EL ESPAÑOL was able to verify that the reality of the land borders between Morocco and Spain in Ceuta and Melilla is very different, without traveler regime or commercial customs.
“From September 15 to today, no trucks pass in any direction due to the legal insecurity that this represents for entrepreneurs and because the passage of goods from all sectors is not authorized,” he explains. Enrique Alcobapresident of the Confederation of Entrepreneurs of Melilla CEME-CEOE and of the Association of Traders.
Long lines of vehicles at the border post between Spain and Morocco.
Although the Spanish government announced that commercial customs have been operating in Ceuta and Melilla since February, they have done so in a restricted manner in terms of products, days, hours and conditions. Additionally, they unexpectedly closed again this summer.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, assured that it was a consensual decision for cases of intense traffic, as occurs during Operation Crossing the Straits (OPE).
But that ended on September 16: two and a half months later, the goods are still not moving.
No explanation was provided by any of the governments that met this week behind closed doors in Madrid, without appearing before the media.
Importers of the usual products from Morocco, such as fish and aggregates, prefer to export and import via Algeciras or Malaga, avoiding introducing the product directly through the borders of Beni Ensar or El Tarajal due to the long queues, insecurity, controls they undergo and having to go through bribes from intermediaries at Moroccan control.
From Tangier to Algeciras to go to Ceuta
Younes Gomariowner of a fishmonger in Ceuta, was already transporting fish across the border in a van when commercial customs did not exist, until in 2019 the Moroccan authorities, without warning, banned the importation of fish.
On the day it closed, he found himself stuck with 70,000 euros of perishable goods, which he put in boats for three days from Castillejos to Ceuta, until they caught his attention and threatened to fine him.
Currently, thanks to the good relations he maintains with Morocco, “they allow me to load the goods in the port of Tanger Med, I take it to Algeciras then to Ceuta, with a loss of time and money, in terms of paying for the boat and transit time to Algeciras”, he laments in conversation with EL ESPAÑOL at the Ceuta market, where he has his fish market.
The fishmonger that Younes Gomari runs in Ceuta.
Additionally, he had to move the ships where he weighed and stored fish from Rincón, Castillejos and Tangier to the peninsula. It now operates from Malaga and Algeciras.
“Morocco wanted to modernize the border because it had a bad image and gained nothing from it. The transport conditions in which the fish arrived were bad, in cars with long queues at the border,” he apologizes to the neighboring country.
“Some fish arrive from Morocco, but there is nothing official. As Spain wanted commercial customs, Morocco decided to do it like in Algeciras. Before, it was imported from Morocco because of the low price, but now it has increased because of transport and transit costs,” he explains.
Only 4 months of importing aggregates
Other businessmen, like Antonio Garciad’Áridos y Transportes del Estrecho de Ceuta, decided to undertake the importation this year, since for the first time the city had a commercial customs office in Ceuta.
García was a pioneer in the importation of aggregates. He started in March, but has only made 39 trips. Unfortunately, the initiative lasted four months and in June she made her final trip across the border.
“Although the Government Delegation supports you and helps you with the documents, the one that bears the greatest burden of the border is Morocco. Being half an hour away, we cannot afford to throw ourselves seven or eight hours of queuesbecause the figures don’t come out,” he laments.
In the scanner alone, the truck was held up for four to five hours, so it could barely complete one trip per day. For it to be profitable, he estimates that three shipments would need to be made per day.
A truck from the company run by Antonio García, at the border post.
“In addition, the person who takes care of customs clearance in Morocco charges 22.50 euros more for importing the equipment,” he reveals.
During this transaction, the driver cannot get out of the truck even to buy a bottle of water.
“He arrives at the border, the gendarmerie arrives, customs, one car in front and one behind, they take the escorted truck to the quarry, load it, weigh it and we return the same way, and we arrive at the scanner, where we can lose between four and five hours. The escort will eat and wait,” says García.
Even if in mid-October a truck from UTE Cantesa passed with sand from Morocco, “it doesn’t work”.
“We say that it is commercial because we are importing, but there is little trade, it requires a lot of paperwork. This must be settled and organized by the Administration there with that here. Even if Spain decides to do something, if the other party does not cooperate… The travelers regime does not work on the part of Morocco, which does not allow anything to be inserted,” complains this businessman from Ceuta.
For all this, the RAN of Madrid was important for the businessmen of Ceuta and Melilla.
In any case, from the Confederation of Businessmen of Melilla, they did not expect “anything beneficial or positive for Ceuta and Melilla”.
“During the previous meeting, held in Rabat in February 2023, even if the President of the Government and the Minister of Foreign Affairs announced the reopening of commercial customs and respect between the two countries, they remain the same,” says Alcoba.
For this reason, he concludes, “they did not know how to negotiate to defend the interests of Ceuta and Melilla”. or they just deceived us“.